


Strange Things Happening

by Huntress79



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes Recovering, Gen, Loki (Marvel) is a Good Bro, Loki is Bucky's handler, M/M, Not Captain America: The Winter Soldier Compliant, Post-Avengers (2012), Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-16 03:40:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20183446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huntress79/pseuds/Huntress79
Summary: The Asset gets a new handler – by now a common thing – and yet, even with his half-muddled brain, he realizes that there’s something off about the new guy. Something that might even help him, if the new guy can keep up the charade long enough in the first place.





	Strange Things Happening

**Author's Note:**

  * For [neverminetohold](https://archiveofourown.org/users/neverminetohold/gifts).

> Written for the [Rare Pairs Exchange](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/RarePairsExchange2019/profile) and [neverminetohold](https://archiveofourown.org/users/neverminetohold/pseuds/neverminetohold). Starts at some point between “The Avengers” and “The Winter Soldier”. The names for both Loki and Bucky are randomly chosen, though with some thought put into “creating” them. Another thing: in my headcanon, Bucky's mind is not as jumbled up as it was portraited in the movies. The wipes and cryo still did quite a number on him, though. I hope you like it!

*********************

_Longing_

*********************

Coming out of cryo was always a shock to the system, no matter how many times he already had been through this special kind of torture. It also always made him tired, and cold, and it definitely had nothing to do with the narrow marge between the temperature of the cryo chamber and the room itself, or the way the 10 code words cut through him, clawing at something inside him he couldn’t quite narrow down.

And so, it took the Asset some long moments to realize that next to Karpov and the other soldiers, there was a new face. Probably another scientist measuring and watching him “performing”, if the way the new guy kept his gaze trained on the Asset was anything to count for. Anyway, the activation was done, he replied with “Ready to comply”, and he was off to the location of his latest target.

At some point during the flight, the Asset suddenly noticed the new guy also being on board, still studying him with an unwavering gaze. Once they were on location, the Asset finally learned that “Luka Odinovich Lavrin” was, apparently, his new handler.

The mission itself went down without a hitch, the Asset and his team a well-oiled machine, with the desired result of another target lying in a pool of blood. And still, there was something about his new handler that set the Asset’s internal alarm clocks on shrilling. For once, his Russian, while fluent, had quite a strange edge to it, though the Asset couldn’t pinpoint it (nor had he the time, as the higher-ups wasted no time in putting him back in cryo as soon as their plane had touched Russian soil). Another thing that he kept mulling over on the flight back was the fact that somehow, his new handler, while acting all the consummate professional, looked most of the time as if he was looking for something, as if here, with the Asset, was the last place on Earth he wanted to be, but it was a necessary evil, so to speak.

*********************

_Rusted_

*********************

The next time the Asset came out of cryo, it was to the, at least to him, surprisingly melodic voice of Luka, his latest handler. Different to everyone before him, Luka placed a calming hand on the Asset’s flesh shoulder, and while it only lasted a few seconds, it somehow made the inevitable shock to the system a tad more bearable.

The new mission went by, uneventful and once again without even the faintest hint of a hitch. And yet, it should be the first the Asset would actively remember. Not just for the fact that Luka stayed as close as possible to him, but also because the handler came into his room late at night. Sure, the handlers could come and go into his room as they pleased, but somehow, none of them had dared to do so after dark. Until now.

The Asset was a light sleeper, and he actually had heard the steps approaching the door quite some time before it actually opened and revealed the slender figure of his handler. But before he could even think about uttering a syllable, the handler was at his side, pressing one finger to his lips and another to his temple. Something was happening, and for the first time in a long time, the Asset felt something akin to fear creeping up his spine. He couldn’t explain how, but the one finger pressed to his temple was kind of a cable (or something like that) for some strange energy flowing from his handler’s body into his own.

As soon as it had begun, it was over, and both men slumped in on themselves – the Asset flopped down back on the pillows, with Luka following and landing across his lap. They stayed that way for some long minutes, and in that timespan, the Asset’s brain started a marathon. Wave after wave after wave, he was bombarded with literal tons of images of a man who might bear an uncanny resemblance to him. A blond man starred a lot in these images, though he couldn’t really be sure if the skinny young man and the guy with all the muscles were actually one and the same, or if they were a friend or a foe. Also appearing in quite some of the images was a young(er) woman with flaming red hair, but like with the guy, he couldn’t pin it down if she was with or against him.

At long last, the image show came to a stop, and while he was thankful for that, he felt a new emotion coming up – curiosity. He never was allowed to ask questions, and over the years (thanks to the image show, he now knew that it were quite a lot of years) he just stopped this certain emotion from resurfacing at all. But now, it was back with a vengeance. Who was he really? And more important, what the heck had his handler done to him?

Said handler began to rose as well, but before he could get his bearings, the Asset pinned him into the bed, the cold metal of the fingers of his left arm closing threateningly around his throat. Loki had been on the receiving end of such brutal manners before, but this time, he knew exactly that he had it coming. What the heck was he thinking, trying to repair the other man’s brain on the fly? If Frigga were here, she would scold him thoroughly, and he would take it unquestioned. Sure, for once, Loki just wanted to help the guy, but it might be one of those things that would backfire at him.

“What. Have. You. Done?” the Asset growled into Loki’s ear, each word punctuated with an increase of pressure, and try as he might, the God of Mischief couldn’t quite suppress the shudder running through his body. The other man might think it was out of fear, but that was as far from the truth as he was from Jotunheim right now.

“If… you… could… loosen… up… this…,” Loki tapped the metal arm, and surprisingly, the man did as told, if even for a fraction, and the metal hand stayed around his throat. Loki took a deep breath, sat up, and fixed the other man with a glare. “I merely tried to restore your memories. You probably wouldn’t understand the how behind it, but it went southways anyway.”

Somewhat stunned by Loki’s answer, the Asset let go of his throat completely (thank you very much!) and stumbled back a bit before sitting down on the bed next to him. Loki all but could feel the wheels in his brain turning, trying to bring some sense into all that mumble-jumble.

“Why?” the Asset finally got out, after opening and closing his mouth several times, reminding Loki of a fish out of water. And in some way, they both were exactly that.

“Let’s just say I’m not exactly who you think I am,” Loki said in a cryptic manner, only to receive a look from the other man that clearly said “Oh really?” Heaving a sigh, Loki finally gave in and started an attempt at an explanation – only to be stopped abruptly by a sharp knock on the door, followed by a short question, which Loki answered with so much command in his voice that even the Asset sat up straighter. Whoever was on the other side was apparently okay with the answer, and they both could hear his retreating steps, but somehow, the spell was broken, and before the Asset could make an attempt at asking again, Loki was out of the door, leaving the man to his still very troubled thoughts.

*********************

_Seventeen_

*********************

For the next few missions, the Asset (who somehow had the name “Bucky” swirling in his head, though he could not pinpoint its importance to him) kept up the excellent work, giving his bosses no chance to question either him or his new handler. He couldn’t really explain it, but he somehow knew that he could trust the guy, even when said man still was as shady as they come. But not as shady as the rest of the team, anyway.

Then their latest mission came up, and the closer they got to their destination New York City, the more fidgeting could be seen in the handler. The Asset locked gazes with him, raising an eyebrow slightly, but the only answer he got was a shrug. Still, the Asset couldn’t shake the feeling that his handler didn’t have the best of relations to the city.

During the mission, the other members of the team also started to pick up the open reluctance of Luka to accompany them to any place outside their temporary headquarters. But everyone who dared to ask him got the same answer – he had a very personal reason for it and it definitely wasn’t their business at all. Luka even went so far to threaten them to report them to the higher-ups, and that really shut the last brave ones up. They all knew that once the higher-ups were involved, your life was, more or less, over.

The Asset kept quiet, kept up the illusion that he was non-caring at all. By now, he had so many small memories reclaimed from the depths of his brain that he knew that he was way older than his current looks implied. He also knew that he had fought in a war, and that a mission went somehow terribly wrong, but since he only had fragments of these memories, it all made barely any sense to him.

New York somewhat felt familiar, but once again, he couldn’t say if it was because he was here on a mission before (most likely) or if it was connected to the fragments of his memories in any way. He wanted to remember, more than anything else, but somewhere deep down he also knew that the repeatedly wiping of his mind and the jo-jo of into cryo, out of cryo weren’t helping at all.

On their way back to their headquarters after finishing the mission, the Asset caught glimpse of a bulky blond man on the street, dressed in slacks and a leather jacket. Like the city, he seemed familiar, but the car moved a bit too fast for him to see the other man’s face properly. Once the guy was out of sight, the Asset leaned back (he fortunately sat against the front passenger seat, so him watching the guy on the street went almost unnoticed). Only Luka apparently took notice, and once he realized who the Asset had seen on the street, he couldn’t quite contain a slight shudder. Looking up, Luka felt the piercing gaze of the Soldier, but like on the plane, he only gave him a shrug.

*********************

_Daybreak_

*********************

Sooner than later, they were back in Russia, and for the first time ever, the Soldier began to fight when they attempted to put him back into cryo. Karpov even went as far as using a taser stick on him, but still, he kept struggling against the soldiers who were trying to keep him down. Having enough of this temper tantrum, Karpov ordered two full wipes, and the chief scientist only nodded, though the Soldier could see a cruel smile spreading on both men’s faces.

All of a sudden, Luka was standing in front of him, holding the Soldier’s face in both hands, his fingers once again placed at his temples. Like he did before, some kind of energy flowed through the fingertips into the Soldier’s head, calming him down, next to other things. While the other soldiers put him in the cryo chamber, he heard Luka talking to Karpov, stating that he was trying a new technique he had picked up during a long winter in a little village in the Afghan mountains. And therefore, the Soldier didn’t need any mind wipes. Surprisingly enough, Karpov was okay with that, but not without remembering Luka that he was the Soldier’s handler, and therefore responsible for stopping any strange behavior. Luka nodded, but once Karpov was out of the room, he turned back to the Soldier – and winked at him.

This cycle kept going for quite some time, until one day in 2014, when the Soldier was taken back to the USA, of course with Luka at his side. Before their plane touched down on a private airfield outside of Washington DC, Luka finally received a mission briefing. Realizing that this mission could shatter all his carefully crafted plans in a heartbeat, Luka began to act like the God he really was.

With just a bit more than a flick of his hands, he rendered all of their team unconscious, before piling them together in a corner of the plane. Next, he woke the Soldier up from his light cryo sleep. As expected, the Soldier was disoriented for a moment, but once his eyes focused on Luka, he straightened up and opened his mouth – only to be shushed by Luka.

“Don’t say a word, until I give you the okay, alright?” For a hot moment, Loki hated the pleading that had crept into the short sentence, but then he saw the Soldier nodding, and he was back on track. Stepping away from the cryo chamber and motioning to the black tac suit he had put on an empty seat next to it, Loki went to the cockpit, leaving the Soldier to figure things out on his own.

After staring at the retreating back of his handler, the Soldier finally began to put the clothes on, still wondering what the heck was going on. Did the plane have a technical issue? Did they have to leave by parachute? But if it were so, where was the rest of their team?

Before he could mull about it any longer, he felt the plane sway to the side, pressing him into the wall next to him. Steadying himself, he realized that the plane apparently had changed its direction. But why?

Luka suddenly reappeared, a broad smile on his face. Once again, all he got from the Soldier was a raised eyebrow, but somehow, the other man managed to say way more with this simple gesture than others with a million words.

“Come on, let’s go!” Luka finally said, and before the Soldier could come up with any retort, he went to where the parachutes were, put one on his own back before handing the second to the Soldier. Only heartbeats later, the rear cargo hatch opened, and together, the two men jumped to their literal freedom.

*********************

_Furnace_

*********************

With some luck, both men landed safely on the ground, quite in the middle of a sparsely populated area. Hiding their parachutes under some bushes, they made their way through the surrounding woods, hoping to find some shelter, if even for one night.

Again, Lady Luck seemed to be on their side, cause after only a few minutes on feet, they came to a small hut, seemingly uninhabited, judging by its slightly dilapidated look. Still, the Soldier forced his way into the cabin, Luka following closely behind.

As soon as the door was closed again, the Soldier rounded in on his handler.

“What was that now?”

“Me saving us both.”

“What?”

“I got the mission papers. And once I was finished, I couldn’t let it happen at all.” Feeling suddenly extremely tired, Luka sat down at the wooden table, and after a heartbeat, the Soldier followed.

“Why?”

“Let’s just say it would have opened the proverbial Pandora’s Box, for both of us.”

Once again, Luka was met with a raised eyebrow (seriously, the man really had a talent for that alone!), and once again, he heaved a sigh.

“Guess I really owe you a longer explanation?”

The Soldier only nodded, and if the way he narrowed his eyes at him were anything to count for, he had a massive headache building up.

“But before I start, let me help you out.”

“Wh… What?”

“You having a headache, right?” Once more, the Soldier nodded. “And I have a way to make them go away rather quick, if you let me.”

Several seconds passed, but at last, the Soldier gave another nod, and Loki pressed two fingers at the base of his skull. Within a heartbeat, the pain that had threatened to split his head in two halves was gone, and even his breathing was easier now.

“Th… Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. Once I’m done with explaining, you’ll probably gonna hate me more than anyone else, including Karpov.”

“Start talking.”

“First thing: my name is not Luka.” The Soldier shrugged, indicating that he already had figured that out. “I’m Loki, Prince of Asgard and Jotunheim, God of Mischief – and a fugitive.”

“Wait… wait a moment. Loki, as in Norse mythology?”

“Exactly, though I have to say that the images said mythology paints of me are nothing but fake. Yes, I can be cruel and calculating should the need arise, but I like to think I’m…,” from afar, the typical sounds of a plane crash could be heard, but Loki just continued, “a benevolent God.”

“You killed them all?”

“It… it was necessary. I even left enough of both of us to let them assume we also were killed…” he trailed off when he saw the blank expression on the Soldier’s face.

“So we’re both ghosts.”

It wasn’t said as a question, it was said as a statement. And before Loki could come up with a witty retort, the Soldier was up and out of the room.

“Wonderful, well done, Loki!”

*********************

_Nine_

*********************

To Loki’s surprise, the Soldier returned rather soon, his hands full of twigs of all sizes. Without even a syllable to his “partner”, he got to work them into pieces fitting into the small oven in the opposite corner of the room.

“Maybe,” Loki began, and not even the murder glance he received from the Soldier could stop him, “maybe we shouldn’t do that. We might draw the attention of any neighbors – and we don’t want that now, right?

That seemed somewhat logical to the Soldier, and he dropped the wood on the floor. And while it was part of the truth, Loki didn’t want to divulge all about him and his “condition”, as Odin used to call it.

“Why… Why did you help me?” the Soldier suddenly said, his voice still more resembling gravel on sandpaper than an actual human voice.

“Because nobody, in any of the nine realms, should be treated like you were.” Loki took a deep breath. “I’ve actually only wanted to ‘drop off the radar’, so to speak, for a while, and a military base in the middle of Siberia seemed like a good starting point. But then, I saw what they were doing to you and… I just couldn’t go through with my initial plan.”

“So you tried to rescue me?” Incredulity laced the Soldier’s voice now, and somewhat, this strange combination did even stranger things to Loki.

“Yeah, and I apologize for any headache I caused, but these are…”

He didn’t get any farther, cause all of a sudden, the God of Mischief had a lap full of Winter Soldier, kissing him fervently. At some point, Loki overcame the initial surprise and reciprocated. When they both, despite their enhanced bodies, drew short on oxygen, the Soldier broke the kiss, but remained close to Loki. And somehow, the Asgardian didn’t mind it all.

*********************

_Benign_

*********************

The evening came around, and they both finally realized that they were hungry. In one of the many, many pockets on his tac gear, the Soldier found two small energy bars, but that was by far too less for two grown men. And so, they searched the whole cabin for anything edible – which Loki found in the end, when he, more or less, stumbled into the well-hidden cellar door and the treasure cove behind.

Somehow, the Soldier knew how to make a simple meal, consisting of a plate of sandwiches, a shared jar of pearl onions, and two cans of soda for each of them. With an bemused expression, Loki watched the Soldier more or less inhaling the better part of the sandwiches, and for once, he didn’t mind. If what he saw at the base was the standard, the Soldier was mostly fed via a tube, and so him diving right into the first real food in an eternity only seemed right. Still, Loki had to intervene, if only just a little bit. A sick Soldier wasn’t any help to him, after all.

“Maybe you should slow down a bit?” Again, Loki was at the receiving end of a murder glare. “Your body isn’t exactly used to solid food, and I don’t want to end up here with you being sick.”

For a few moments, the Soldier stopped eating, apparently trying to get to the bottom of what Loki had said, and suddenly, he pushed the plate away from him and leant back in the chair.

“You can eat the rest later,” Loki added, and that short sentence brought something like a teeny tiny light into the grey-blue, almost dead eyes of the Soldier.

“I’m… I’m sorry…,” the Soldier suddenly spoke up, in such a tiny voice that even Loki with his enhanced hearing had trouble to pick it up.

“For what? I’ve seen what they gave you for ‘food’ at the base…”

“No, for… for kissing you. I…,” at that, the Soldier turned his gaze to the floor, and Loki could see a blush blooming on his face, “I… don’t know… why…”

Loki was about to say something when suddenly a thought struck him. He couldn’t keep calling his partner “Soldier” or “Asset” all the time. First of all, it was very pejorative, and second, people would get suspicious once they were out in the society again.

“May I call you ‘Yasha’?” he asked. “I mean, we kissed, so it only would be fair if we had names to refer to each other.”

“I remember… a name, but… I don’t know what he meant to me.”

“What name?”

“’Bucky’, but it somehow sounds like a pet name, right?”

“Yes it does, and I’m sorry, I can’t help you out here. I mean, I was in your brain when I tried to straighten it out, but I didn’t catch any names or anything.”

“It’s okay,” the Soldier replied, “’Yasha’ sounds good. But still… it’s a pet name as well, right?”

“Yeah, and it’s a variation on ‘Yakov’ or in English, ‘James’.” At that point, Loki searched Yasha’s face for any kind of recognition, but there wasn’t anything. Not so long ago, Loki thought he had a block of ice where other people had their heart, but right now, he really felt said organ beating in his chest, breaking in the proverbial sense for the other man and the bad things the Russians had done to him.

“What should I call you?”

“Luka. It’s the best for now, and if we get asked, we can tell them we’re two young Russian men, exploring the great wide USA before joining the military back home.” He went silent for a moment before looking up at Yasha again. "How about 'Yakov Kostyovich Baikov', nickname 'Yasha'?"

*********************

_Homecoming_

*********************

Lady Luck was still on their side the next morning, when Yasha did another snoop around the cabin and found two pairs of jeans, some shirts, socks, underwear and shoes for them to change into. The clothes didn’t exactly fit the way they both wanted, but they were fitting enough to tide them over for the time being.

Sure, Loki was tempted to do some actual magical changes to their “new” wardrobe, but keeping up appearances as a Russian soldier and the whole solo heist on the plane had left quite a void in his powers. His batteries were already recharging, but somehow, he didn’t want to risk anything (besides, he also didn’t want to worry Yasha, and a possible faint could easily do that)

They also found two backpacks, and since they didn’t know when they would be able to either get some money or some food, they filled them with quite some food conserves from the cellar, covered up with their clothes. With one last look back, they began the trek through the woods again.

Around noon (if the position of the sun on the sky above them was anything to count for), they came into a small village. While Yasha stayed hidden in the bushes near the town square, Loki grabbed their bottles and refilled them with water from the fountain.

“You’re not from around here, right?”

Loki had to put up every ounce of willpower NOT to jump at the sudden appearance of a new voice. Turning around, he saw a young guy standing there, and a quick once-over didn’t label him as a threat.

“No, we’re just passing through.”

“We?”

“My friend and I. We’re doing a road trip, coast to coast, but not the big cities than rather the small villages, like this one here.”

“Cool. But you’re not American, right?”

“No,” Yasha suddenly said behind the man, and try as he might, the young man jumped. “We are Russians, having a bit of fun before we enlist in the military.”

“Oh,” the man said. “Well then, have a safe trip, boys!”

Before either Yasha nor Loki could come up with even a “thank you”, the young man was gone.

“We have to go,” Loki finally grounded out, his voice just enough for Yasha to hear.

“Da.”*

They kept walking until another evening came around, and this time, they had to set up a camp in the middle of some woods. Once again, Yasha made a quick, simple dinner, but this time, they really shared it fair and square. At some point after, Yasha fell asleep, and while Loki was tired as well, he kept a vigil all night. If anyone needed some good hours of sleep, it was the former Winter Soldier. Sleep that wasn’t induced by any drugs.

Though as it turned out, Yasha’s sleep was anything but good. He didn’t have a full-blown nightmare, but for the better part of the night, he kept murmuring, alternating between Russian and English. And while Loki had lied to him about knowing nothing about him, he couldn’t pick up what the other man was murmuring – except for one name: “Steve”.

Loki’s heart was, once again, breaking. What in the nine realms had this man done in a previous life to earn such a punishment? Cause that what was it to Loki. A cruel, unusual, and exaggerated punishment that not even Odin, or Laufey, would consider or sic on their worst enemies. Only one name came into his mind that was able to do it: Thanos, the very reason why he was hiding here on Earth.

*********************

_One_

*********************

On their third day “on the run”, they managed to come into some money. An elderly lady was charmed at their good manners, and while Yasha helped her getting her groceries into her house on the outskirts of town, Loki tended to both her flowers and the two cats. They both refused profoundly to stay for dinner, and so, she gave them almost all the paper money she had in her purse.

At first, Loki wanted to decline again, but one look from Yasha, and in the next second, Loki said “thank you” to her before they hit the road again. While talking to her, Yasha also learned that they were in West Virginia, heading West. She also gave them her newspaper, stating that she already had read all the important parts.

Later that day, they found another little hut in the woods, though this time, there were no stockpiles of food for them to raid. Still, they had another night in, even taking advantage of the small bathroom tucked into the corner of the cabin before turning in.

“No… no… please… no… NO!!”

Yasha all but shot into a sitting position, his whole body trembling with the aftershocks of the nightmare. Loki was at his side in an instant, murmuring strange words into his ear that were somewhat calming.

“So… sorry…”

“Don’t be. With the life you led until recently and all the horrors you were subjected to, you’re more than bound to have them.”

“What… what did you say to me?”

“Hm? Ah, nothing of importance, just an old, short poem my mother used to say when I had nightmares as a child.”

“Sounds like a good woman, your mother.”

“Yes, that she is. Sadly, I probably won’t see her again, at least not in this lifetime.” The arched eyebrow made a stunning comeback. “Let’s just say that she, and the rest of my people, is better off with me away from them. I did something I’m not really proud of in hindsight, and the other party is not really known for showing any mercy.”

“That’s… that’s hard, bud.”

“It is, but while the relationships to both my father and my older brother are somewhat rocky, I have nothing but love for my mother. And I know that she also loves me unconditionally, like a mother should.” Loki flopped back on his pillow. “We should try to get some more sleep, since we’re probably on our feet the whole day tomorrow.”

“Can… can I do something?”

“Depends,” Loki gave back, the soft smile on his lips dampen his answer a bit. Instead of a verbal retort, he suddenly felt Yasha scooting closer, ending up with his flesh arm wrapped around Loki’s narrow waist.

From that night on, they usually fell asleep that way, no matter if they had found some shelter or spent the night under the stars.

*********************

_Freight Car_

*********************

More than two weeks later found Loki and Yasha somewhere in the last stretch of the Midwest, with the mighty range of the Rocky Mountains on the horizon. During that time, they not only had developed some kind of routine (Yasha was responsible for everything food-related, Loki taking care of their finances), they also had changed their appearances. Both men had visited a hairdresser, resulting in short haircuts for both of them. And while Loki now had medium brown hair, Yasha had chosen a “caramel” (according to the hairdresser) color for his new locks.

The closer they got to California, the more Loki knew that he had to fess up to Yasha, about pretty much everything. If he wanted to keep the man at his side, he had to open up, to lay everything out for him.

Yasha of course picked up the change in Luka’s mood quite easily. Spending so much time with him only could result in that. But while he might have pushed the matter at the beginning of their impromptu hiking trip, he now knew that his partner would come around and start talking whenever he felt ready for it. Besides, they probably still had all time in the world to explore everything about each other, and if his past had taught him anything at all, it was patience.

*********************

**The End**

*********************

**Author's Note:**

> "Da" - yes  
"Yasha" - diminutive of "Yakov" (= James)


End file.
